Instead, they're 0-3 -- and all but eliminated from P.L. title contention. Team goals, which were quite lofty, have had to be reset at drastically lower levels.

"We can't be worrying about things like (league championships)," head coach Bill Russo said in last Saturday's postgame media session. "The only thing we can be worrying about at this point is to get our first win."

Soon after, Russo had turned his attention to leading his Leopards into battle for the first time ever against Brown, his alma mater, 1 p.m. Saturday at Brown Stadium in Providence, R.I. And, by then, he'd managed to find a few silver linings.

"Certainly," he said, "there's disappointment involved in losing a close game like that right at the end -- and we all have to live with that. But I saw a lot of bright spots against Bucknell. I saw flashes of how well we can play. The one thing that really pleased me was that the offense came along and did some things we've been looking for, both in the passing game and the running game.

"Now it's just a question of building some consistency. If we do that, and keep working hard, good things will happen for us."

Unfortunately for Russo, Brown is much better than it was when he played there in the late 1960s -- or when he was an assistant coach there (1969-77).

The Bears, who are coached by Mark Whipple, a Brown quarterback during Russo's coaching days in Providence, trounced Yale 52-14 last week in New Haven. They ran up 424 yards passing and 629 yards of total offense -- and their defense intercepted six Eli passes.

"Brown is very talented," Russo mused. "You can see by the pasting they put on Yale that they can score points in bunches. (Wide receiver) Sean Morey is one of the most talented kids we'll run into all year. If you're in a one-on-one situation against him, you're at a big disadvantage. We have to contain him.

"I remember Mark (Whipple) as a fiery guy who just loved to throw the ball all over the place, and that's the way he coaches. They have a wide-open attack. They do so many different things that we just have to worry about being in good, basic defensive position ourselves ... worry more about ourselves and how we line up and make minor adjustments, but don't let them cause us to react to everything they do.

"Just play good basic defense," Russo said. "If we do that, I think we'll have a chance for some big plays, interceptions or turnovers."

Of the Bears' defense, Russo said, "They're a come-after-you group. You have to burn 'em when they blitz you, or else they'll be coming on every play and just make life miserable for you. So we have to work hard this week on getting into some one-on-one situations, and then make some big plays."

One source of optimism was the Leopards' improved offense against Bucknell. Sophomore quarterback Mike Palos (Bethlehem Catholic) found the range, especially in the first half, when he completed 13 of 18 passes for 202 yards and a pair of TDs to wideouts Tom Falzone (Catasauqua) and freshman Phil Yarberough.

Another is the second-half play of tailback Leonard Moore (Phillipsburg). Moore, who lost his starting position to Nino DiMatteo, rushed for 97 yards, 93 after intermission, and gave Lafayette a 21-17 lead with a 28-yard TD dash in the fourth quarter.

The emergence of Falzone, Yarberough and Jerry Terry is more urgent because of the loss of three-quarters of the anticipated four-man wideout rotation.

Joe Luke (P'burg) tore up a knee in an off-season pickup basketball game, Barrett Hammons was dismissed from the team and Rob McPheeters suffered a bone bruise to his knee at Army. McPheeters will be out for another couple of weeks.